Life Of An Organic
by PrincessKiraLombax
Summary: When Clank is suddenly changed into a Lombax, he must know cope with the changes and learn how to live life as an organic life form. Luckily, Ratchet is there to teach him the basics of being a Lombax. One-shot fanfic for airlombax on deviantART.


The day after the genetic accident at a mad scientist's lair, Clank could hardly believe he was transformed into a Lombax. The changes were very new to him for he could feel things and smell the air. Little did he know that he was about to find out the functions he would require since he was now an organic life form. Fortunately, Ratchet was there to give Clank lessons on how to live as an organic until he changed back to normal.

"All right, pal… How are you feeling?" Ratchet asked as he looked to his friend.

The other Lombax tilted his head in curiosity. "Um, fine. Except my eye lids are still a little droopy and it feels like I cannot focus on anything."

"That's a sign meaning that you're still a little sleepy. But, not to worry. With a little coffee and sugar, you'll be awake in no time-" Ratchet was interrupted when he heard a loud growl.

Clank had his hands against his stomach when it made that noise. He looked startled at first, then got really scared when it made that noise, again.

Ratchet laughed at that. "Ah, don't worry. It does that whenever people get hungry. Come on and I'll get you some breakfast."

"But, I…" Clank shook his head in protest. "I cannot eat or drink anything for I am-" He gasped when his stomach growled, again.

"Look, pal… Being an organic is gonna be hard at first, but it only gets harder if you don't eat something. Now, come on. I've made bacon and eggs."

Clank sighed and followed Ratchet into the kitchen. He just couldn't wait to turn back into a robot already. Though, he was a little intrigued on how organic life forms eat at least three or four times a day just to function. Then again, it also had to be a real pain.

The fresh smell of cooked bacon and eggs filled the air. Clank smelled it all and grinned. This must have been what having a nose was like.

"What wonderful aroma!" Clank said to himself, then blinked when he felt his mouth get a little watery. "What… is this that I am…"

Ratchet turned and snickered. "The smell of food will make you drool. It happens, so don't worry about it." Setting the table and serving Clank's food, he ushered the other Lombax to sit down and eat.

Clank looked at the food curiously before putting a slice of bacon in his mouth. The taste of fresh meat made his eyes widened and he downed all of his food in no time. He gave Ratchet a look that begged for more food.

"Hold on…" Giving him seconds, Clank ate all of the food again until he couldn't eat it all anymore. "You all full, pal?"

"I… I think so… I even feel even more wide awake than I did before."

Ratchet smiled and gave Clank a pat on the back. "Glad to hear it… Now, are you ready to try some coffee?"

"Ready as I'll ever be!"

As soon as he received the coffee, it did taste rather bland, but it did wake up the Lombax even more. He finally felt like he could focus on anything. An hour later, Clank felt really odd and he felt like it had something to do with all of that food and coffee. Looking around for Ratchet, he looked panicked.

"Um, Ratchet… I feel like I… Um, er…"

Ratchet raised an eyebrow, then noticed how Clank crossed his legs. "Oh! I think you may have to go to the bathroom!"

"B-Bathroom? But, how do I even…?"

Now, this was really awkward. A robot that just transformed into a Lombax that thought he knew everything on organics doesn't even know how to use the bathroom. Ratchet sighed, led Clank into the bathroom, and briefly showed him how to use it properly before stepping out quickly.

He flopped over onto the couch and massaged his forehead for he was already getting a headache. "This day better go by fast…"

Looking over to his game system, Ratchet decided to play some of his holo-games for a little bit. Time had gone by a little bit and he was starting to get a little worried about Clank. Taking a minute to pause his holo-game, Ratchet got up and knocked on the bathroom door.

"Hey, Clank! Are you alright?" He called. There was no answer, just silence. "Clank?" His ear twitched when he heard a sniffle. "Clank, are you alright? Look, I'm… I'm coming in now, okay?" Ratchet was secretly hoping that Clank was decent. Going in, he noticed him sitting on the floor, looking sad. "Clank, what's wrong?"

The other Lombax jerked his head up when he heard Ratchet come in. "I… I am fine…"

"Are you sure?" Ratchet asked as he sat next to Clank. "You look like someone just ripped your heart out, pal. What's going on?"

Clank blinked in curiosity at Ratchet's words, then sighed. "It's… It's those robots… I cannot seem to stop thinking about them. It was like…" He suddenly placed his hand over his heart when he felt a pang in it. "What… What is this?"

"You're feeling sadness, Clank and trust me. It's not easy to hide it." Ratchet knew this from his own personal experiences. The only times he felt great sadness was when Clank was kidnapped by the Zoni and when Alister Azimuth sacrificed himself to save the universe from his mistake. "I know you feel bad about those robots from yesterday, but it's not your fault."

Clank looked at him with glassy green eyes, like he was trying so hard to fight back his first tears.

"What that scientist was unforgivable and he is paying for it right now. Though, we both do wish that we could have done something earlier, we… We can't-"

"Change the past?"

Ratchet looked at Clank worriedly. "Y-Yeah… But, you know? At least those robots didn't die in vain and we even saved the robots that was on his to-steal list from enduring the pain and suffering." His eyes suddenly lit up from an idea. "I know! Why don't we show the robots how much the people actually do care about them?"

Clank's Lombax ears perked up as he looked over to Ratchet with a surprised look. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, we can make a petition that says 'Stop Robot Abuse' or 'Be a friend to a robot'. Think about it! We can use yesterday's events as proof that robots can actually be friends and they can feel!"

Never in Clank's life had he ever been so surprised. "You… You would actually do that?"

"Yeah! I mean, you said it yourself that one time to Nefarious, remember?" Ratchet asked with a smile. "You said that organics and robots have the same right to live in the same universe!"

It took Clank a minute to remember those events. His eyes widened for Ratchet was right. When Nefarious was trying to turn all life forms into robots and was trying to force Clank to help him, he said that all organics and robots have every right to live in the same universe and live as equals. Ratchet was right for it was time to prove the universe that robots and organics share the same universe.

Even though the pang in his heart was gone, Clank was still confused by these new feelings. He looked at Ratchet with a questioned look.

The other Lombax just smiled. "You're feeling excited and happiness, Clank. Whenever someone comes up with an idea and others agree to it, we feel like this and we grow determined to achieve our goals."

Perhaps Clank was wrong before. Maybe being an organic life form was not so bad after all. He never knew how understanding and compassionate Ratchet or any other person could be. Though, he couldn't help but wonder how he was able to read him so easily. Then again, Clank's face did give away what he was feeling.

Ratchet gave him a small pat on the back. "We're a lot easier to understand than you think, Clank." To his surprise, he received a hug from him. He smiled and hugged him back. "It's gonna be okay, pal. I promise."

"Thank you, Ratchet." Clank couldn't help but smile. He was just so happy to have a friend like Ratchet. Not wanting to fight it anymore, he finally shed his first happy tears.

A few hours later after Clank was calmed down, the two friends were already getting to work on their plans. Ratchet was making flyers while Clank was making an online petition and gathering enough research of robot abuse. After preparing for everything, Clank was waiting for signatures while Ratchet was on top of a building, throwing all of the flyers around so people can look at them. To their surprise, they were receiving a lot of signatures and support from the people.

After talking to the people and news media, the duo were headed home for the day. Clank couldn't help but think about all the things he had learned about being an organic life form. In the window, he saw his reflection of his Lombax body. Though he looked different from his robot form, he knew that he would still be the same on the inside.

As the two kept on walking, a sudden thought hit Clank. He was wondering what Ratchet thought of him being a Lombax. He seemed to enjoy having another Lombax around and felt a little sad, knowing that he would change back into a robot any day, now.

Ratchet noticed the look on Clank's face and stopped walking. "You okay, pal?"

"Huh? What?" He asked, looking at Ratchet. "Oh, I was just thinking… Ratchet, what do you think of me as a Lombax?"

Ratchet blinked a few times before looking away. "Well, what do you think? Being an organic's gotta be tough on you, you know?"

"It has been tough and I do find it annoying that organics have to eat on a regular schedule, always go to the bathroom, and that they can feel pain whenever they get a cut or bruise, but…" He paused for a few seconds before continuing. "It is nice to smell the air and feel things that robots cannot. I am curious, though. Ratchet, if I could be a Lombax forever, what would you think?"

That made him look at Clank in surprise. It was nice having another Lombax around, even though it was for a short period of time. He stopped and thought for a minute. "Well, I'm afraid that'll be up to you. No matter what you look like, Clank, you'll still be you on the inside. That's all that really matters to me, pal."

Though it did make Clank happy to hear that, he still felt a little torn up on the inside. Both he and Ratchet were given a lot of choices in life back then. They may be from different races, but he could feel that they could be the same.

Back at the apartment, Ratchet was playing his holo-vid game while Clank was reading a book about Physics and Science. Normally, Clank would go on for hours of reading about his favorite subjects. This time, he felt a lot of pain inside his head. He closed the book and massaged his forehead.

"So, this must be what a headache feels like…" He said to himself and laid back onto the couch, still having his hand over his head. He groaned for he could feel it getting worse. "Ratchet, are there any headache pills anywhere?"

Ratchet paused his game and brought Clank back a glass of water and two headache relievers. "Here you go, pal. Gotta be careful on how much you read. Organics have limits, you know."

"I am aware of that." Clank sighed as he took the pills and glass of water. "Though, it is fascinating that some people try to go beyond their limits and that they pay a great price for it."

"I hear ya." A memory came back to Ratchet when he was trying to take down a War Grok in the Agorian Battle Complex and how he learned of his limits the hard way. It wasn't long until Ratchet was getting a headache as well for playing his holo-vid game for too long. "Ugh… Yeah, you're right. Everyone has limits."

Clank chuckled and he ended up bringing Ratchet some water and two headache relieve pills. It was a little late at night, so they decided to call it a day and went to bed. Around three 'o clock in the morning, Clank was stirring in his bed with a scared look for he was having a nightmare. He was dreaming about how Alister had killed Ratchet back at the Great Clock and how he used the Orvus Chamber to bring him back.

"Ratchet!" He gasped as he woke up, looking very scared and wondering why his heart was beating so fast. A small scream escaped his lips when Ratchet suddenly barged into the room with a Combuster in his hand.

"Clank, you okay? I heard you scream!" Realizing that there weren't any bad guys, Ratchet put the Combuster away and looked at Clank. "What's wrong? Are you okay?"

"I do not know." He answered with heavy breathing. "I remember being at the Great Clock and General Azimuth tried to kill you and… and…" Just speaking of it made Clank's heart race even faster and breathing a lot heavier.

"Clank! Clank, calm down! Calm down!" Ratchet went over and held onto his shoulders. "Relax and try to breathe, pal. Everything's alright. You probably just had a bad dream. You're alright. I'm alright."

Clank had nightmares before and was scared after having them, but not like this. Following Ratchet's advice, he eventually calmed back down and sighed. Clank pulled the covers closer to him and hid his face in shame.

"I am sorry to have woken you up, Ratchet."

He placed a reassuring hand over his shoulder. "Hey, it's alright. A lot of organics wake up screaming from nightmares once in a while, Clank. Take this from personal experience."

"Then, Ratchet… You, too, have screamed from a nightmare?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I have." He scratched behind his head nervously. "But, whatever. It's over now and the past is in the past. Let's go on back to sleep, okay?"

Clank grasped Ratchet's hand before he could walk away. "Ratchet, what if I… What if I have the same dream, again? What if I can't go back to sleep?"

That really took Ratchet by surprise. Normally robots wouldn't let their fear bother them, but since Clank is a Lombax, he was able to read him a whole lot better than he used to. A soft sigh escaped from Ratchet's lips as he looked back to Clank.

"All right. How 'bout I stay with you for the night?" He offered as he sat down on the bed.

"W-What?" He looked over to the other Lombax in surprise. "Are… Are you sure?"

"Clank, you were always there for me. Now, I'm gonna be there for you." Ratchet scooted over closer to Clank and rested his head on a pillow. "Don't worry, pal. Nothing's gonna harm you… Not while I'm around."

Clank felt that huge amount of happiness like he did earlier and nodded. "I feel the same way, Ratchet."

Ratchet eventually went back to sleep while Clank was still wide awake, thinking about a lot of things. He looked at his organic Lombax hand and sighed. The life of an organic was fascinating indeed. They always had to eat, do daily chores, have their limits, pick up different scents of smell, and their emotions would often get the best of them.

He looked over to Ratchet who was sleeping peacefully. The way organics slept was fascinating as well. It was like they had an internal battery and the only way to charge it was if they go to sleep. Remembering the scary nightmare, Clank scooted closer to Ratchet for protection. Picking up his heartbeat, he relaxed, knowing Ratchet was not dead. He was still right there beside Clank and alive. He spent about five more minutes watching the other Lombax before falling back asleep.

Ratchet was the first one to wake up the next morning to find Clank resting his head against his shoulder. He couldn't blame him really from the nightmare he had from lastnight. Carefully getting out of bed without waking up Clank, Ratchet went into the kitchen to cook some pancakes. The other Lombax woke up five minutes later to the noise in the kitchen and followed the smell of the fresh batch of pancakes.

"Mornin', pal." Ratchet said and smiled. "You hungry?"

Clank gave a slight nod and sat at the table. He rubbed his tired and eyes and ate his pancakes that Ratchet made.

"Well, it won't be long until you change back into a robot." Ratchet said, looking over to Clank. "So, how was it? Being a Lombax?"

The other Lombax paused for a minute, then sighed. "Being a Lombax was fun, really. It was different from being a robot, but…"

"But?"

"Ratchet, I need to know… Which do you like better? Do you prefer having me as a robot or Lombax?"

Ratchet blinked several times and shook his head. "I already told you. Whether you choose to change back into a robot or stay as a Lombax is up to you-"

Clank banged his hands against the table and stood, making Ratchet jump. "But, Ratchet! Don't you ever get sad or lonely?!"

"Clank, what's going on?" Ratchet annoyed and concerned at the same time, knowing he had been through this so many times.

"You're the very last Lombax left in this dimension! I can stay as a Lombax for you so you won't be last of your kind! I can find a way to keep me this way so you won't be alone!"

Ratchet stood up and placed his hands on his unstable friend. "Time out, Clank! Time out!" He waited for Clank to settle down before finally speaking. "Yes. Yes, I do get sad that I'm the last Lombax in this dimension. However, I don't really get lonely! I really don't!"

"But-"

"Listen to me, Clank! Do I get sad? Yes. Do I feel lonely? No. When you're around, I don't feel alone. You're my best friend, my brother, my family."

Ratchet pulled Clank into his arms, giving him a really tight hug. It had been a long time since they both had hugged. Clank eventually relaxed and hugged Ratchet back. He seemed to have notice something about the other Lombax. When the two first met, Ratchet was self-centered and only cared himself. Because of Clank, the Lombax actually matured and opened up his heart towards other people when he needed to.

The two friends eventually pulled away from their hug and smiled at each other. Ratchet smiled and held his fist out.

"How 'bout it, pal? No matter what happens, we'll always be friends."

"I couldn't agree more."

Their fists bumped into each other in agreement before they went into the garage to do maintenance on Aphelion. Clank stood back and watched Ratchet work on the engine. His ears perked up when he noticed that the 'mechanic' was about to make a risky move.

"Um, Ratchet. I would not connect that cable if I were-" He was interrupted when Ratchet got electrocuted. His fur was sticking out everywhere, making him look like a fluffy kitty. "You."

Ratchet coughed and shook his head. "Right…" Finally fixing Aphelion the right way, he went inside and gasped at his fur when he looked into a mirror.

Clank couldn't help but laugh how ridiculous Ratchet looked. "I am sorry, Ratchet. You look… like…" His laughing seemed contagious because Ratchet was now laughing, too.

The two kept on laughing until their sides ached. Right after Ratchet got his fur back under control, he went onto playing his holo-vid games while Clank was his Psychology book. Clank's stomach began growling and sighed. He went into the kitchen and walked out, munching on a sandwich as he sat back down and went back into reading. He was suddenly interrupted by Ratchet's cursing at the game and snickered.

As the day wore on, Clank was busy cooking some spaghetti for him and Ratchet. Little did he know that the other Lombax was hiding in the ceiling lamp, waiting to jump out any minute and scare him. As soon as dinner was ready, Clank went looking for Ratchet.

"Ratchet?" Clank called. "Ratchet, dinner is ready."

As soon as he walked back towards the lamp, Ratchet jumped out and pounced on Clank, making him scream. He couldn't help but laugh at the scared look on his face.

"Haha! I gotcha!"

Clank shot a mean glare at Ratchet, then smirked as he slowly reached for the pillow on the couch. "On the contrary, I've got you!" When the other Lombax wasn't looking, he gave him a good whack in the head.

"Ouch!" Ratchet rubbed the spot where he got hit and smirked. "Oh, yeah?"

Grabbing the other pillow, the two Lombaxes started a pillow fight until they got tired and went into the kitchen to go eat their dinner before it got too cold. Right after Clank had finished eating, he decided to pay Ratchet back for scaring him. While Ratchet was in the shower, he quietly sneaked in and flush the toilet before running out.

Ratchet's screaming could be heard for the water was running too hot. He stormed out of the bathroom with a towel around his waist. "Clank, did you just flush the toilet?!"

Clank couldn't help but laugh. "That is what you get for scaring me earlier!"

The other Lombax growled and went back into the bathroom to finish up his shower. Right after he got out, Clank went in there to take his very first shower. Even though Clank would never rust, he still wanted to feel the water on his organic skin. The warm water felt really nice against his fur, making him feel relaxed and at ease. His thoughts were suddenly interrupted when the lights shut off and his hearing could pick up some faint snickering.

"Ratchet, you turn that light back on this instant!" Clank called out angrily.

"What? I didn't do anything!" Ratchet teased. It was obvious that he was lying.

"Turn it back on this instant! I am trying to finish my shower!"

"All right, all right!" He called and turned the light back on before going back to his holo-vid game.

Clank rolled his eyes and went back to cleaning up his fur. He couldn't help but chuckle at how Ratchet acted just now. "I guess some people still don't really grow up that much."

Later that night, Clank was lying in bed wide awake and thinking about a lot of things. He was really enjoying being a Lombax like Ratchet. He suddenly thought about his father, Orvus. If he could see him know, then he would probably laugh at Clank's curiosity and new experiences. As he thought more about these past few days, a sudden thought came across his mind.

He may not know when he would change back into a robot, it still won't stop him from living his life his own way. Whether he would be stuck as Lombax or change back to normal, he was going to let the universe decide that. As Orvus once said that the universe has a wonderful sense of humor. The trick is learning how to take a joke. Clank smiled and sighed as he pulled the blankets over him, relaxing in his bed and going to sleep for the night. He couldn't wait to see what tomorrow would bring or what the universe has planned for him and Ratchet.


End file.
